Norway is beefing up its army’s air-defense capabilities, and yesterday announced it was procuring a new, mobile version of the Kongsberg NASAMS air-defense system already widely operated by its air force. (Norway Defence photo)

The army’s ability to defend military units from attack from the air will be increased by the procurement of a new, mobile air defense system.

“Providing protection from air attacks must be modular and flexible, and it should move quickly. It will provide protection against threats from the air so that the Army can benefit from maximum operational freedom. The army has not had a combat air defense capability since the early 2000s, and this is a milestone in our continuing commitment to the Army,” says Defence Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has recently sent a team to the FMA defence materiel agency to begin the procurement process of a new weapons system through investment Project 7628 Kampluftvern. This project is important for the continuing modernization of the Army.

Project 7628 is a weapon system that will consist of both new acquisitions and the reuse of existing equipment and solutions from the Air Force's own NASAMS air defense system.

The new acquisitions are primarily a short-range capacity to be integrated in the Army modernized armored transport vehicles. These systems will be integrated with fire-control and communication solutions that are in use in the Air Force.

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS (KDA), which provides NASAMS to the Air Force, will also be a system supplier and overall integrator of combat air defense for the Army. The acquisition therefore carried out as a direct acquisition by a direct arrangement with KDA.

The budget for the project is NOK 948 million and deliveries will take place from 2018 to 2021.

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Norway Acquires Army Mobile Ground Based Air Defence

(Source: Kongsberg; issued Feb 06, 2017)

During a press meeting today, defence minister Ine Eriksen Søreide announced the decision to conduct the project for providing the Army a Mobile Ground Based Air Defence System in a direct acquisition with Kongsberg.

The Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency will initiate the acquisition process with Kongsberg to define the final configuration and system solution before the delivery contract is signed. The deliveries are planned for 2018 to 2021.

Army Ground Based Air Defence is a highly mobile, short-range air defence system based on some existing elements in today’s structure in combination with the acquisition of some new elements. The system will reuse NASAMS command and control and its unique network solutions.

Kongsberg has been a supplier of air defence solutions to the Norwegian armed forces through several decades, from canon and gun systems to today’s modern NASAMS. NASAMS has also been the foundation for significant competence developments and spin-offs to other technology areas. The Army Mobile Ground Based Air Defence system will be a world leading solution with unique capabilities to combat modern airborne threats, as well as having the ability to integrate with networks with other sensors and weapons.

“NASAMS is a very important product for Kongsberg and one of the most successful internationally. We are very pleased to be have been chosen as supplier for the Army Mobile Ground Based Air Defence. This will add further capabilities to the Norwegian air defence community, and secure jobs in Kongsberg and for a large number of subcontractors throughout Norway,” says Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence Systems.